


12 days of Christmas

by norwegianssweethearts



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Christmas prompts, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-13 14:26:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12985995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/norwegianssweethearts/pseuds/norwegianssweethearts
Summary: A chapter will be up every day until Christmas. There's no connexion between each "chapter" apart from the fact that they take place in December.





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> I received an ask a few days ago asking if I could write something about Noora and William during Christmas time. It prompted this "12 days of Christmas" thing in my mind so here we go! 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy them!  
> xx

**Prompt 1:** _Could you write a drabble on how you think Noora and William are spending a cold winter day in Oslo?_ ❤

* * *

 

It’s been snowing in Oslo for over a week non-stop. The weather is so cold that Noora doesn’t want to go outside. She should; she has a lot of things to do. She should go to the library and do her homework for next week. She should also go to Vilde’s to get a few things she left at hers. She has a billion things to do today, but it’s cold outside and she’s gonna pretend it’s a valid reason to stay inside and do nothing. How could she step a foot outside of the building when there is her cute sleepy boyfriend next to her being all soft, anyways? 

She moves closer to him and runs her fingers through his hair. A deep and quiet « hmm » escapes his lips and makes her smile.

She softly kisses him « Just stay here, I’m bringing breakfast »

He opens his eyes, looking at her and nods. 

She puts two frozen pain au chocolat in the oven, prepares hot cocoa for her and a coffee for him (one sugar and a tiny bit of milk) and two multi-fruits juice glasses. She prepares granola with yogurt. She adds two pancakes William made the day before to the mix, with a bit of marmalade. It’s Saturday after all. When they’re done, she adds the pastries and goes back to the room.

William is waiting for her. « Wow, » he says. « Is it just for us? Or did you invite Eskild and Linn too? » he adds, as he takes the tray from her hands. 

« Just the two of us » she smiles. « Breakfast is the most important meal of the day » she licks her lips. « Eskild and Linn aren’t there. They went to see a friend for the weekend » 

William hums. « oh, yeah. I thought they hadn’t left yet »

« I heard them leaving a few hours ago. » she replies, laying down on the bed, close to her boyfriend. 

« What’s your plan for today? » William asks, between two bites of his pain au chocolat.

« Nothing. Stay here. With you. » She says.

He quickly looks at her, a pleased smile on his lips. « Here as in, this bed? » 

« Here, as in this apartment, William » she replies, with a sigh. 

« Okay, okay, » he says. « That’s still a good plan » he teases her.

They follow Noora’s plan for the rest of the day. They cuddle for a long while on the bed, sharing languid kisses, their legs intertwined underneath the bedspread.   

William suggests taking advantage of the emptiness of the flat to take a bath together. He runs a hot foam bath for them, like he used to do in London. Resting against him, she relaxes. She asks him about University, about Chris. He asks her about school, the girls, Russ. They talk a bit about his dad too. She traces patterns on his skin, he sometimes kisses her cheek. There’s a relaxing playlist playing in the background and it’s almost perfect.

She has to remind herself sometimes that things can be great. She has trouble enjoying those days when everything is perfect because she is waiting for everything to change like it did before. However, she’s not the same person as one year ago. William is not the same person as one year ago. Their relationship is not the same either. They’re great. They’re in love. 

When the water gets cold, they leave the bath and puts some comfy clothes on. They prepare a quick lunch and settle together on the sofa, with a Christmas movie playing on the telly. The movie is cliché but Noora loves it anyway. 

When she’s done with lunch, Noora shivers a bit. 

« You’re cold, babe? » William asks quietly, putting an arm around her neck and pulling her closer to him. She nods.

« Stay here, I’m going to bring you hot cocoa, » he says. He takes a blanket from the box beside their couch and gives it to her.

He comes back a few moment later with two mugs. She moves a bit and taps the couch just next to her. « Come sit here, I want to sit between your legs. »

He smiles and does as told. 

After she has drunk every drop of her hot cocoa mug, it takes her only a few minutes before she falls asleep, snuggled into William’s embrace. 

It’s her phone that wakes her up. 

 **Vilde:** I wanna go out, Eva and Chris are up for it, what about you?

 **Noora:** no, sorry 

 **Eva:** William can come you know

 **Chris:** yeah he can come with my twin 

 **Eva:** yeah Chris can come too

 **Vilde:** it’s gonna be great, it’s a Xmas Party 

 **Noora:** No, I want to have a night-in, sorry

 **Vilde:** :(((((

William moves a bit behind her.

« The girls are going out tonight, » she says.

« Oh, » his voice is deep, and it sounds a bit sad. « So, you’re going out? »

« Nah, » she replies.

« You can, you know. If you want to » he tells her, trying to be convincing. 

She looks at him quickly and smiles. She plays with his fingers. « I know. I have other plans » she says playfully.

« Oh great! » he says, mirroring her tone.

« My plan is to stay here » she bites her lips.

« Here, as in on the couch? » he asks.

« Here, as in, in your arms » she answers.

  

 

 

 


	2. Day 2

**Prompt 2** _Last xmas I gave you my heart..._

* * *

**December 24th, 2016, London**

Christmas songs have been playing everywhere in London for a few weeks now. Even if you try very hard, you can’t escape hearing them.  

William is alone in his office and he still can hear the radio playing in the office next to his. Jennifer loves playing songs, she says that she’s more productive with a bit of music.

It’s Christmas, they shouldn’t be here anyway, so he lets it go. _« We have to finish this project, William. Christmas can wait »_ his father said. He doesn’t want to celebrate Christmas anyway. _« You know I don’t like Christmas, son, »_ he told William when he tried to organize things. _« What’s the point on celebrating it now? »_ he added, to get his point across. William wanted to scream that the point is that he IS alive, even if Amalie is not but it wouldn’t have ended well so he just nodded. 

Everything would be different if his little sister was alive, he knows it. His parents both lost it when she died, and he’s not enough for them to try to get back on track. He learned that 10 years ago anyway, it’s no surprise.

Sometimes, he reads that being a middle child is hard. Try being the middle child between a psychopath and a late sister, he thinks.

 

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_

Great. Last Christmas reminds him of Noora. (What doesn’t, after all.) The story of the song is not theirs but he remembers the sound of her voice. _« We’ll make a deal »_ she had told him. They were at a Christmas party. Christmas songs were playing in the background. Just like now.  

_« You apologize to Vilde and I’ll go on a date with you. Just one. Nothing more. »_

_« Okay. »_

In a sense, he had given her his heart. 

_But the very next day you gave it away_

She didn’t exactly give it away the next day, but still… 

_This year, to save me from tears_

There were tears. 

_I'll give it to someone special._

He could. He probably should. However, he thought she was special, so maybe not this Christmas. Maybe next year? Yeah, maybe next year he will be able to open his heart to someone else. 

Sometimes, he can’t believe he told her he loved her. Sometimes, he’s so so glad he did.

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_

_But the very next day you gave it away_

_This year, to save me from tears_

_I'll give it to someone special_

That song doesn’t even make sense. If you can write a song to someone, they’re special. 

_Once bitten and twice shy_

That’s maybe why he pretends not to notice this girl from the 4th floor flirting with him. (She’s just not Noora.)

_I keep my distance_

How many times he almost bought a plane ticket straight to Oslo? 

_But you still catch my eye_

How many times did he end up on her Instagram?

_Tell me, baby_

Why?

_Do you recognize me?_

Do you still love me?

_Well, it's been a year_

He counts the weeks, the days, the minutes, the seconds when he can’t sleep

_It doesn't surprise me_

He should have seen it coming.

_(Merry Christmas!) I wrapped it up and sent it_

Last week, he saw a necklace in a shop somewhere and thought that it would have been a great Christmas present for her.

_With a note saying, "I love you, " I meant it_

He almost bought it and sent it to her.

_Now, I know what a fool I've been_

She left, without a note. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with him. 

_But if you kissed me now_

Sometimes, when the ring bells, he hopes it’s Noora on the outside of the door, ringing because she forgot her keys.

_I know you'd fool me again_

If she came back, he wouldn’t even ask questions. He would just kiss her.

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_

_But the very next day you gave it away_

_This year, to save me from tears_

_I'll give it to someone special_

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_

_But the very next day you gave it away_

_This year, to save me from tears_

_I'll give it to someone special_

He’s pathetic. Maybe he’ll ask Chris to come here for New Year. He can’t go back.

_A crowded room, friends with tired eyes_

What if he saw her at a New Year Party?

_I'm hiding from you, and your soul of ice_

London is safe. It’s not great, the whole experience is tainted, but it’s safe. At least, he has his dad here. 

_My god, I thought you were someone to rely on_

He thought he could open his heart to her. 

_Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on_

She didn’t even care enough to leave a note.

_A face on a lover with a fire in his heart_

He thought he could give her everything. 

_A man under cover but you tore me apart_

He didn’t know he could be more hurt than he was already.

_Now, I've found a real love you'll never fool me again_

Sometimes he wishes he could go back to hooking up with nameless girls and forget her. 

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_

_But the very next day you gave it away_

_This year, to save me from tears_

_I'll give it to someone special_

His father told him he will forget her name one day.

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_

_But the very next day you gave it away_

_This year, to save me from tears_

_I'll give it to someone special_

He’s not sure he could even if he tried. 

**December 24th, 2017, Oslo.**

Noora is preparing lunch when last Christmas starts playing. She hums along when William wraps his arms around her and turns her over before kissing her.

_A face on a lover with a fire in his heart_

_A man under cover but you tore him apart_

_Maybe next year I'll give it to someone_

_I'll give it to someone special_

She smiles into the kiss. 

He was right. The person that inspires such a song is someone special.

 

 


	3. Day 3

**_3_ ** _Driving home for xmas..._

* * *

 

William starts the car so that it will be warm when Noora sits down.  She is still in the apartment. Apparently, they forgot something.

They will have to drive approximatively 6 hours to get home. 

Technically, they could have jetted off to Oslo. It would have been less fun. They also needed a car in Oslo.

It has been a few months since the last time they went back. They’ve lived in Copenhagen for a while now and even if Oslo is not that far, they can’t go back as many times as they would like. 

Christmas at the Schistad’s house is a tradition, though.

Noora finally comes back and they can start their journey.

William is concentrated on the road,  and Noora feels too sleepy to chat. She runs her fingers through his hair, massages his neck and sporadically asks him where they are.  

She looks at the beautiful, breathtaking view she has from the window, feet up on the dashboard. 

She sometimes glances at him, admiring his profile a bit. She knows every part of his face, every shape of it. However, she sometimes feels like she doesn’t watch him enough.

They’re working a lot. Maybe even too much. It’s the first time in weeks that they’re peacefully together for an extended period of time. She missed him. He probably missed her just as much.

William makes a stop at a gas station every two hours. Noora gets out of the car to stretch her legs and goes to buy snacks. She loves peanuts, it’s practical while on the road. Not really practical when it comes to feeding the driver, but really funny.  

After the first stop, they try to play a game. They guess in turn who the other is thinking about. Noora loses the first round and decides that the game is boring. She doesn’t fool William, but he doesn’t say anything, he just smirks (which might be worse than words)

She had almost forgotten how easy it could be between them. She makes a mental note to try to find time to spend together. Being ambitious is one thing but she doesn’t want them to lose focus on what’s the most important thing. _Them._

She kisses his cheek gently, making him smile brightly. He glances at her. « What? » he asks.

« Nothing. I love you » she replies, doing her hair again. 

« That’s convenient, » he says.

« Because you love me, » she tells him, with a smirk. She places her hand on his and brushes his knuckles.

They stop in a little restaurant on the road. Noora feels a bit out of place because of the comfy and sporty clothes she’s wearing but William tells her that it’s just a pub, not a fancy restaurant. Still, the setting is much fancier and even romantic than she had imagined. She thought they would just buy sandwiches at a gas station, to be honest. William needed to rest a bit, though.  

« I love long journey like this » Noora tells him. « With you, at least, » she adds. « I find it very relaxing. »

William nods. « I love driving too. You’re the best co-pilot ever » he jokes. « Feeding me peanuts when I’m hungry and lighting up my cigarettes », he chuckles. « We could go on a road trip this summer if we can take a few weeks off work, » he suggests, eyes full of hope.

« Where would you like to go? Europe? » she replies.

« Well, we could even go to California, if we manage to find three weeks or more, » he tells her.

« Can we afford that, though? » she furrows her eyebrows, trying to think realistically.

« With how much we’re both working, I think so, yes. » 

« True… I’m pretty sure I could get 6 weeks off if I can submit one or two articles during our holidays » she bites her lips.

« We have to investigate it further… I think it would be really fun and I’m pretty sure I’ve worked enough to get 2 months off, honestly, » he says, reaching to take her hand.

« Yeah, maybe. Your boss is pretty cool, so maybe he will be kind enough to let us have that » she tells him. « We could rent a motorhome and be totally free! We’ll look everything up on the internet when we go back. » 

They’re only one hour away when Noora gets an idea and asks William if he wants to stop for coffee. They find a shop that sells Starbucks-like beverages. They go back to the car with their mugs.  Noora stops William by tugging at his sleeve and smirks at him.

She snuggles up to him. « Don’t you think we could… » she whispers, « find somewhere a bit more ... quiet? » 

William giggles. « We’re almost home, babe » 

Noora pouts. « Will… » she tries to take her most seductive voice. 

He kisses her tenderly, cupping her face with his hands. « You and your thing with cars » he sighs.

The day he can deny something to Noora has yet to come, anyway. It’s _clearly_ not today. 

If they arrive at Chris’s apartment one hour or so later than predicted, it’s, of course, because of the snow. Of course.

 

 

   

 


	4. Day 4

**4** I asked Santa for something else...

* * *

 

William is overjoyed with the present he has bought for Noora. He’s sure that she will like it. She has eyed this yellow jacket for a few months. She doesn't want to buy it because she claims it’s too expensive. It’s the best Christmas present, she’s gonna be stunning in it. It’s gonna fit her _so well_.

They decided to exchange gifts when they’re celebrating Christmas with their friends. They’re all invited to Eva’s house because her mother is once again out of town and she didn’t want to be alone. Apart from a few of them, nobody has a real family to go home to, anyway. 

They have to be at Eva’s in a bit more than an hour. Noora is getting dressed in the bathroom, while he’s watching a Christmas’s movie on TV. 

She comes back from the bathroom, still in her pajamas. She seems completely staggered. She curls up on the couch next to him, her head in his lap. 

He runs his fingers through her hair. « Noora, babe, are you okay? » he asks. She nods but takes his hand in hers. 

« You’re sure? You’re… weird ». She sits up to look at him.

Usually, William can read her mind almost easily, but right then he doesn’t know what is on her mind. She bites her lips. 

« I’m pregnant » 

« Preg… pregnant? » he can’t even move. William knows that technically, yes, she can be. But, he… they… 

She nods. « You know the test Eskild gifted us last year as a joke? I took it. It’s positive » 

She looks at him and he sees almost terror in her eyes. She seems to be looking for approval or disapproval in his eyes and he quickly moves to take her face in his hands. « Hey, babe. It’s okay. It’s just a surprise, you know. I didn’t expect this, at all, so I’m a bit shocked right now… »

« Me too, » she says, in a whisper before he kisses her gently. « I don’t even know how it is possible ». William chuckles a bit and she rolls her eyes. « No, yes I know how, it’s just… you know. We’re careful. » she whispers.

« Well… apparently, we weren’t » he declares.  

He puts his hands on her waist and moves her a bit so that she’s on his lap. He wraps his arms around her. She relaxes right away.

« Wow » 

« Are you okay? » he whispers in her ear, holding her a bit tighter.

« Yeah, yeah. It’s just… Wow. » 

Apparently, that’s the only word she can form right now. 

Realistically, they can have a child now. They’ve been in a long-term relationship for a while, they live together - in a tiny apartment but still, they aren’t really struggling with money, they know how to handle a budget. 

There’s nothing really stopping them from having a child, they both know it. 

However, the whole being a parent thing is a very foreign concept for them. They don’t really have coherent and great models. 

There’s no decision to take, and they both know it.

It’s happening sooner than expected, sooner than they wanted. They’re not really ready - they don’t really think they will ever be, but it’s … them. 

If they learned a thing, it’s that as long as they’re together, everything will be alright. They didn’t expect to be three that soon, but life is full of surprise.

« We have a Christmas dinner to attend, I think » William looks at his phone. « We’re already late » he adds. 

« I can’t move. I can’t think, » she replies, still sitting on his lap.   « Next Christmas, we’ll be three » she whispers, trying to realize what the two lines on the stick actually _mean_. Then she realizes that they didn’t even talk about the possibilities. She glances at him, biting her lip hard. « I mean… »

« Yeah, we’ll be three in a few months, » William says. « Wow. »  Noora plays with his fingers for a while. Her mind is racing, and she can see that William’s is no better. There’s too much to think about. Their lives are about to be flipped upside down.

Then William starts laughing out loud. She joins him. It’s nervous laughter, of course. She wipes tears off her cheeks.

«  I asked Santa for something else » she jokes. She chuckles before adding « but well that’s still… a great gift, right? ». Her eyes are full of hope.

« Yeah, of course, » he replies, kissing her cheek. « You never know… maybe Santa listened to your wishes, too » he winks at her and she kisses him. 

When they arrive at Eva’s, she teases them about being late. Later, the girls laugh about Noora being distracted. Noora smiles, squeezing William’s hand. She doesn’t deny it and lets her friends imagination believe what they want. If they only knew…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already used that trope a long time ago, I know... but when I was writing day 4, I was also chatting with one of my best friends, live from the hospital as she was giving birth and I couldn't think about anything else than the way she told me she was pregnant haha.


	5. Day 5

**5** Tell me about a past xmas....

* * *

 

“You’re gonna get cold if we stay here, Noora” William tells her. Noora hides her nose in her scarf and shakes her head. 

“Shut up and cuddle me” she replies, sitting between William’s legs. 

“Really, Noo. We can go back inside. You’re freezing” he insists, wrapping his arms around her tightly. 

“William, it’s fine. If we’re going back inside, we’ll have to deal with Eskild and Vilde. They’re very determined to do this Karaoke thing. I don’t wanna sing. Eskild is getting on my nerves, too, lately. Plus, that patio is very cute. And Calm. It’s relaxing. You’re a living heater, I’ll be fine”

There’s no one else outside, probably because it’s December and the weather is more than cold these days.

“Okay,” he whispers and leans back on the bench. She settles on his lap and adjusts the blanket on their legs. Whoever is the host tonight - Noora isn’t even sure she knows his name - was very kind to let blankets in his patio in case people wanted to smoke outdoors. People decided that the bathroom was the smoking room for tonight, though. 

She hears a group of people arriving and she sighs because she just wants to be alone but they don’t come to their side of the patio. 

“I watched a dumb game on TV this afternoon,” she tells him. “people had to answer questions about their significant other and I realized that I don’t know your favorite Christmas’s memory” she adds. “It was one of the questions and… You never talk about the past” 

“There’s not much to tell…” he says. 

“Come on, tell me about a past Christmas!” her tone shows genuine curiosity. “I’m sure you have memories of Christmas”

It doesn’t take him long to think about one. “I remember the last Christmas of my sis quite well.” he starts. Noora takes his hand in hers and brushes his knuckles. “She was not 8 years old yet so she still believed in Santa. I’m sure she was at least suspicious. I knew about Santa because Niko had told me he didn’t exist. She was so ecstatic about him bringing her presents, she had made a list and everything. We used to celebrate Christmas at my grandparent’s house. I wasn’t much older than her, but I remember that I wanted her to believe in Santa so I played the game, you know? We prepared cookies with my grandma and we left Santa some beside the fireplace. There was a lot of snow and we played a bit in the garden with my mom and dad. My mom had bought fancy outfits for the night because she wanted to have cute family pictures to hang. I might still have some somewhere. I had a tie and everything, I think. She asked me to play something on the piano and she filmed me.”

“Wait, you can play the piano?” Noora interrupts him, surprised.

William hums. “Not sure I still can, but I learned to, yes. We had to sing a song to be able to open our presents the next morning so we had rehearsed Jingle bells with Amalie. I remember all my family applauding us and we were so proud. I remember that we tried to stay awake all night with Amalie to see Santa. She fell asleep after a while and Dad came to tell me to go to sleep. He carried her to her room and tucked me in. He told me I was a good older brother. Santa brought me a Magician set that year. Amalie got a ballerina costume. It was a classic Christmas, I think. Nothing really wild happened.” He presses his lips together.

“It’s still a sweet memory. Is it the best Christmas you’ve had?” she asks, quietly.

“I don’t know, it’s… the last one I had. With my family, I mean. The year after, Amalie was gone and my parents didn’t want to celebrate Christmas without her so… my dad was probably on a trip somewhere and my mom… well…”  

Noora sits up and turns a bit to look at him. “What? Really?” she says.

William nods. “Yeah, I mean we did things like, with the hired nannies or sometimes my grandmother when she was in Oslo but the whole Christmas experience with everything? No, we have never done it again. I was always invited to Chris’s though.” 

“So, this year it’s the first time in 10 years that you’re experiencing the Christmas’s spirit fully?” she asks, playing with his fingers. 

He nods. “Well, yeah. I don’t have a choice, Eskild wouldn’t have it any other way” he jokes.

She looks around them; they’re still alone. Wrapped in a huge blanket, she turns to face her boyfriend and straddles him. She chuckles a bit because it’s difficult to move without falling but William’s hands are on her waist. She cups his face with her hands and kisses him gently. The kiss gets heated relatively quickly but they’re still in public so they try to control themselves. She rests her forehead against his, panting. “How do you even manage to be this warm all the time” she whispers, trying to catch her breath.

He bites his lips. “Don’t know” he murmurs and then kisses her again. She kisses his neck and then he does the same. She chuckles when she feels his hand trying to touch her skin beneath all the layers and then they’re kissing, again. 

Eskild finds them like this and tries to clear his throat to get their attention. They notice him but don’t even move. 

“Karaoke is about to start, come on. You have all the time to kiss.” he fakes outrage. “That’s like… gross. Uh.” William and Noora keep kissing, even purposely putting on quite a show and ignoring him. Noora smiles against William’s lips. “God! Where are your hands, William? Oh God. If you are into exhibitionism, okay, but please, warn us.” Eskild sighs. “Come on, you two. Hello? Karaoke” he waves at them to get their attention. “Oh, you! Come sing with us” he shouts.

William and Noora do not move and continue making out but to get their point across, they show him their middle finger simultaneously. 

When Eskild is finally gone, they stop kissing and laugh together. 

“I told you that you would warm me up” Noora tells William. “My own personal heater”

 


	6. Day 6

**6** I never was into xmas because...

* * *

 

“I don’t care about Christmas, Eskild!” Noora shouts before slamming the door. She goes to lay on the bed, besides William. 

“He didn’t give up, did he?” William says. Noora sighs and shakes her head. “No” she replies. “Not at all. It doesn’t get into his head that I truly don’t care about Christmas. I don’t know why this year he got into Christmas mode like this. It never happened before” 

“There’s a boy at his work that had the great idea to tell him that his favorite time of the year is Christmas. That boy is, and I quote, ‘The Cutest Boy Ever’ ” William answers, with a chuckle.

“How do you know that?” Noora asks, a bit surprised.

William glances at her. “I had the misfortune to be the only one there when he came back the night that boy told him that”

“So, you’re telling me we’ve been suffering for three weeks because he’s trying to get into someone’s pants?”

“Basically, yes.”

Noora grunts. “I don’t know how you can stay calm like that,” she tells him. “You do not like Christmas time either”

William shakes his head. “I don’t dislike Christmas as much as you do” he clarifies. “I just don’t care. Why do you hate Christmas so much anyway?” 

“I’ve never been into Christmas” she states.

“Why?”

She snuggles up to him on the bed, rests her head on his chest. “My family organizes Christmas dinner every year, even though they can’t stand each other.  So at the beginning, people are huge hypocrites and by the end of the night, everyone is fighting over mundane things. Christmas time gives anxiety to a lot of people. Like, in my family, Christmas is an obligation. Nobody really enjoys it because it’s so stressful but no one dares to say it out loud and save everyone from the misery. Even when I was little, there was this kind of bad vibe, you know? Like, my parents became the best attentive, caring parents when we arrived at my aunt’s house on the 24th and when we left the day after, it was back to normal and they didn’t give a shit about me anymore” she confesses. “To top all of that, Mjondalen is a shithole year-round but in winter it’s actually worse.” 

“Oh, I see. Seems fun” he jokes, running his fingers through Noora’s hair. 

“Yeah. Fun is the best way to describe this nightmare. But, hmm.” she says, clearing her throat. “I know that Christmas is still like, two weeks from now but, I was wondering…” she pauses a few seconds. “What are your plans for Christmas?”

William looks at Noora with a tiny smile, a bit puzzled. “Hmmm… You know I don’t have any? apart from going to Chris’s on the 25th, I mean.”

“No, yeah, I know we’re not doing anything special. My real question is - are we celebrating Christmas? Together?” she says.

He turns his attention to her and smiles softly. “Oh. Your real question is, do we exchange gifts?” he bites his lips. “You’re too sweet” he adds, cupping her jaw and leaning down to kiss her.

“Yeah, I… I mean, as much as I hate Christmas, I’m part of Secret Santa and I have to buy gifts for Eskild and Linn because of the Christmas party we’re hosting here and I just …”

“There definitely is a wrapped gift under our miserable Christmas tree from me to you” he winks. “That doesn’t mean you have to find something for me, though” he adds. 

Her face lights up and she smiles. “Great” she whispers. “Don’t tell Eskild, okay?” she says. “But I’m kind of excited for Christmas this year.” she chuckles.

“And why is that?” he replies, pressing his lips together. She touches his mouth with one of her fingers. 

“ It’s our first one together” she declares.  She guides his mouth to her own to kiss him. “I guess there is something magical about spending Christmas with people you care about”

William moves so that they’re face to face and cups her face with his hand. He kisses her tenderly.

 


	7. Day 7

**7** Christmas Day at Chris’ home

* * *

 

When Noora enters the Schistad’s house, she is a bit surprised. She didn’t expect… this. 

Chris is first and foremost William’s friend. They’re friendly, sure, but they don’t really talk. She realizes there are a lot of things she doesn’t know about him. 

Chris’s mom comes to meet them in the hallway. She’s stunning and there’s no denying Chris got her smile. She’s small, seems a bit shy. She smiles at Noora. “Welcome here, Noora,” she tells her. “Nice to meet you” she adds, winking at William. She touches William’s back. “Glad to have you home, William,” she tells him. “The girls can’t wait to see you” 

She turns to the stairs and shouts “Kids, William and Noora are there” and then tells them that Chris is helping her cooking in the kitchen.

William briefed her quickly in the car. Astrid Schistad has four daughters and one son. Chris is the oldest. She raises her kids mostly alone. Chris dad had a stroke five years ago and lives in a care home almost all the time. “He probably won’t be here today,” he said. William is not sure because Chris doesn’t mention his dad a lot, but he apparently doesn’t really recognize his children. William says that, even if Chris doesn’t say it, he joined the Army because of his dad. 

Noora knows that everyone is fighting a battle but she would never have guessed that Chris is helping his mom raising his four sisters.  Eva has never mentioned it but according to William, it’s not surprising. “He doesn’t really want to talk about it. I don’t think he would tell one of his hook-ups. No offense, but like.… I’m sure Eva was more a distraction, you know?”

Chris has a lovely home. It’s a huge house, with a garden. They have a dog, Kansas. She’s petting him when William is literally attacked by four girls. 

“Hey, girls! How are you doing?” he tells them, trying to give them a shared hug. They answer all at the same time and William takes a step back, grabs Noora gently by the waist and introduces her to Chris’s sisters. “Girls, this is Noora.” 

“Noora, here are Charlotte, Caroline, Cecilie, and Camilla” 

“The monsters that call themselves my sisters” Christoffer adds, with a huge smirk. He gets closer to William, pats him on the shoulder and kisses Noora on the cheek. “Merry Christmas young lady,” he tells her. “Thanks for accepting the invitation. William bringing a girl to Christmas’s dinner might get my mom off my back” he whispers. She leans closer to him. “Or it might get worse and she will remind you that your best friend settled down so you could too.” she says playfully, with a wink. She looks around them and notices that the girls are gone. 

Her mom, back from the kitchen, chuckles. “Oh, great. Finally, someone that teases my son like me! I still don’t know why the girl that spends a lot of time in _your room_ was not invited to Christmas dinner.” she winks. 

Chris blushes. 

“That one? Worse than his dad, I swear. » she runs her fingers through his hair. “Come to the living room, the girls are already waiting” 

Apparently, the tradition is to watch Christmas movies while the food is cooking. She sits down on an armchair with William, four girls at their feet. 

She realizes that this is a real family. This is people enjoying each other’s company and laughing together, forming memories together. They’re watching children movies - Chris’s sisters are still young - but they’re watching them together. She’s glad that William has got something like this. 

Chris is laying down on the couch, playing on his phone. His youngest sister, Camilla is styling his hair and he doesn’t say anything. She snaps a picture, making William laugh. “You never know, we might need to blackmail him, someday” she whispers. She’s obviously joking. She just wants Eva to see this. 

After a while, Chris’s mom disappears into the kitchen and Noora untangles herself from William and follows her. 

“Do you want some help?” she says. 

“Men in front of the TV, women cooking, eh?” she replies. “I must say that Chris helped me a lot today, so I guess it’s fine.” she smiles. “It’s almost ready anyway” 

Astrid shows Noora where to find everything to set the table up.

“I’m very happy to finally meet you,” Astrid says. “I can’t say that I heard a lot about you because William doesn’t talk much and I’m pretty sure you know this” she adds, smiling shyly.

“Yeah. I didn’t know much about Chris’s home life before today, I must confess” she replies.

“I figured. William and Chris are protective over what or who they love” she says. “That’s how you know they care about you”

She gestures her to go to the kitchen with her. “I’m very happy to know William has someone to talk to, though. He deserves it.”

Noora bites her lips and blushes.

“You know, I don’t even know how they met” she laughs.

“Football practice. They were… 10?” Astrid says. “They have been friends since… When I realized that William’s family didn’t want to celebrate Christmas, I started to invite him, so they never lost contact even when they weren’t attending the same school.  And when they started going to Nissen, they actually became almost inseparable. Christmas without him would not be the same. I was a bit moved last year when he came back to spend Christmas with us, I must say” she goes to the oven. 

Okay, she didn’t know he actually went back last year.

The food is delicious. Chris banters a lot with his mom and sisters. They obviously eat too much. 

The girls love their gifts. Chris laughs at the horrible Christmas sweater William and Noora bought him. Noora and William receive new decorations for their room.  Chris ask them not to open his gift in front of his innocent sisters. Charlotte rolls her eyes. She’s fifteen. Not sure Chris was still innocent at her age. 

Noora can’t say no to Cecilie and Caroline when they ask her to let them do her make-up. She goes to their room and plays with them a bit before Chris and William join them to play Monopoly together.

When the three youngest girls are in bed, tired from their day, Noora, William, and Chris join Astrid and Charlotte in the living room, settle in front of the fire and play cards against humanity for the rest of the night. 

 

 


	8. Day 8

**8** maybe a (actually quite alright) phone call from Noora’s parents and William also speaking with them 

* * *

 

“Noora, your phone is ringing,” William says, feeling the phone vibrating beside him.

“Who is it?” she replies from the kitchen. 

“Your mom”. She bites her lips. 22th of December. Annual Christmas call, then.  

“Answer it then” she sighs. “I’ll be there in two minutes”

William has yet to meet the parents. However, they’ve been introduced - Noora’s parents always call her on FaceTime, and truth be told, he is almost always by her side. At first, she tried to hide him - either going to another room or just making sure he wasn’t in the frame but then she couldn’t see the point, they knew she had moved to London for him. 

Then she told them that she was back to Oslo for her education. She isn’t sure they bought her lie, but they didn’t pry. 

She remembers the first time, she answered their call with William back on her side. Her mom had winked.

The thing is, those calls are not really made because they genuinely want to hear about her life. It’s a habit. Noora and her parents don’t want to lose touch with each other. Speaking once a month is a compromise. It works for them.  

Those calls are not awkward. Sure, Noora is more guarded, she keeps secrets and ‘forgets’ to mention things to her parents. However, those fifteen minutes of conversation could be seen as totally normal from the outside.

“Hello,” William says. “Noora won’t be long” 

“Oh, William. Hi. How are you?” Noora’s mom replies with a genuine smile on her face. 

“Great. What about you?”

“Fantastic. I’m calling now because we’re gonna spend Christmas in Paris. A romantic getaway. It’s gonna be epic. I love Paris”

Noora enters the room, puts the two cocoa mugs on the nightstand and settles close to William.

“Hi, mom” she coughs a bit. It’s sometimes still weird for William to see her interact with her mother because he notices how different she is from her normal self. She has a perfect poker face, trying to hide her emotions and she’s a tiny bit tensed.

“Hi, darling. You’re sick?” her mom almost sounds preoccupied.

“It’s nothing. I’ve got a cold that doesn’t want to go away”

“Eat Honey, it will help!” Noora tries hard not to roll her eyes. She doesn’t even want to know where her mom heard this. 

“I will,” she says. “I heard you’re leaving for Paris?”

“Yeah. For Christmas. What about you? What are you doing for Christmas? Are you going back to London, to see your dad, William?”

He presses his lips together and moves a bit on the bed. “Hmmm….No,” he replies.

The last text he sent to his dad was ‘whatever’ at the beginning of summer, so. 

“We’re staying there. On the 23rd we have a Christmas party with our friends. We’re spending Christmas Eve on our own and then we’re invited to a friend’s house on Christmas day.” Noora explains. Her mother furrows her eyebrows a bit disapprovingly but Noora gives her a look that stops her from commenting.

“I’m sure you will have fun” she finally says. Noora has a way too serious and classic life according to her mom. 

“Okay, kids, I called you because I just posted your Christmas gift.   I hope you will like it, okay? I wasn’t sure what you like, Noora, so, just in case you don’t like it or you’d prefer something else, I can change it without trouble” Her mom smiles. 

“Oh, mom, you shouldn’t have!”  she says, biting her lips.

“Nonsense, you’re still my daughter. Plus it’s nothing much, you know.” she laughs.

They talk a bit more and Noora is able to say a few words to her dad as well. 

“You should bring William to your hometown sometimes. I’m pretty sure he would love to know where you grew up. I bet your mom could find cute pictures of you as a child” he tells her. 

Going back to Mjondalen is not really something she wants to do.  There’s nothing, no one she wants to see again. 

“Maybe someday,” she says. William knows it means no and squeezes her hand. She smiles at him.

Soon, her parents tell her that they need to get going. “Talk to you next month,” her mom says. “Merry Christmas, darling. William” and with a quick kiss she hangs up. 

A few days later, Noora receives her parcel. There’s a red lipstick, a beautiful white cashmere Cardigan, and a voucher for a weekend for her and William. Noora smiles. It warms her heart, even though she knows that it’s just Christmas’ spirit. _Don’t get your hopes up, they don’t love you._  

 


	9. Day 9

**9** What they get for each other as gifts

* * *

 

“So, what are you getting Noora for Christmas?” Chris asks before taking another bite of his pizza. 

“I’m not telling you” William replies. Chris’s eyes widen excessively. 

“And … why?” he furrows his eyebrows.

“Because if I tell you, in two hours Eva will know and by tomorrow Noora will know too.” William says, without even looking at his friend.

“No. Why would I even tell Eva?”

“Because you always tell Eva everything” William chuckles. 

“That’s not true!” Chris replies, offended.

“Yes, it is”

Chris sighs. 

He got her a camera. Back in London, he remembers Noora telling her that she took a billion pictures while discovering the city. She used her iPhone even though William had told her multiple times that she could buy a great camera if she wanted. She said that she didn’t need one. He had made a mental note to gift her one for Christmas but… She was gone long before Christmas.  When he came back, William realized that Noora still takes a lot of pictures, even though she posts rarely on social media.

There’s no way he’s telling anyone about it, though. No way. Eskild tried, too but he really wants to surprise her for their first Christmas together. 

***

“Chris asked me if you had plans for New Year?” Eva asks Noora. “He wants to have a New Year party this year.”

Noora freezes and takes a few seconds to _think._ She doesn’t have a story ready to tell. _“_ Eva, did Chris talk to W about his plans?” she stutters.

“I don’t know, I guess not. We’ve talked about this only this morning and they don’t see each other on Wednesday. _”_

Noora is not sure why Eva knows when her own boyfriend sees his best friend or why would she and Chris talk _before school_ but she will tease her friend when she’ll have figured out how on earth she’s gonna get out of this.

“Hmmm…” Noora bites her lips and turns to Eva. “I don’t know yet, I guess I’ve to talk to William and see what plans he has in mind.”

Eva nods and the ring bells. 

She realizes that she doesn’t need to say anything to Eva before Christmas when William will open his gifts. If she tells Eva, she will tell Chris who’s gonna tell William as soon as they’re together. 

She really wants to surprise him with this gift. She hopes their friends will understand being ditched on New Year’s eve, though. 

If they don’t, too bad. She will spend three wonderful days in Prague with William and kiss him at midnight with their approval or not.

At first, she wanted to go for his birthday but with his studies and school, it wasn’t feasible. It’s a great symbol to start New Year together abroad. She’s sure he will love her idea.   

 

 


	10. Day 10

**10** their first Christmas together - Part I

* * *

 

Christmas isn’t really their thing but they still decide to do something together on Christmas’s Eve. Everybody is occupied. Linn has gone back to her family’s house on the 21st, Eskild left this morning to go to his aunt’s for Christmas. Eva is at her dad’s, Vilde spends the holidays with her mom, Chris is with her parents too. Sana is most likely with Yousef. 

The last few years, William had tried to go visit his dad, either on Christmas Eve or New Year, when his dad was available but this year, he didn’t even ask him. His dad has yet to contact him again and William has decided that he won’t reach out first. His dad has made it extra clear that he doesn’t support his choices and hasn’t apparently changed his mind so there’s no reason why he should try to contact him. 

Noora’s family is probably at her aunt’s house or her grandma’s. Last time she heard about them, her mom said she was invited but everybody knows she wouldn’t go back to Mjondalen even if they paid her.

William has downloaded a few films they can watch. Noora went grocery shopping a few days ago, in order to cook a healthy but great meal for her and William.

It’s their first Christmas they’re spending together. It could have been the third if things had worked out differently. Their first Christmas memories together are just a rushed conversation, hidden behind a stand. “ _Apologize to Vilde and I’ll go on a date with you_ ” she had asked, whispering because she didn’t want anybody to hear them. He had smirked. she had rolled her eyes. Two years later, they’re spending Christmas together, trying to gather their friends. Their lives are merging into one. Deciding together what they’re going to cook, what they’re going to do, where they’re going to go, with whom, it’s all very new to both of them. Noora would not have believed it if you had told her where she would be two years ago. Even last year, she remembers spending Christmas with Eskild, meeting up with Sana, face timing Eva, thinking about William. She had tried to imagine what would be her life if she had stayed in England. William had talked about going to Dublin so maybe they would have gone there.

They decide to spend this day chilling together in the empty flat. Eskild’s train was early in the morning so when they wake up, they’re already alone. 

These days, William and Noora wake up almost at the same time. When it’s a school day, morning is usually rushed. They can’t eat breakfast together, or even really acknowledge each other’s existence. There are more “Hurry up” than anything cute or romantic. 

However, when they’re free like today, they love to lay in bed, bodies intertwined together. Noora usually snuggles up to him, his arms around her waist. Like this, they don’t even need to talk or to do something. If they have time, they eat breakfast in bed. While William doesn’t really care about breakfast - a coffee and he’s good to go, Noora needs to take a few minutes to sit down and eat something with a glass of juice or a coffee. Usually, she takes time to do it even when she’s late.

So, today, they’re laying down on their bed, snuggled up together beneath the covers. William’s arms are wrapped around her middle. Her face buried in his neck, she relaxes, trying to wake up fully.

It’s the first Christmas she’s excited about. She can’t wait to see his face when he will unwrap the poster she bought him. It’s a framed canvas where a real cliché sentence about love. She was so happy to organize their little surprise getaway to Prague for him, but she wanted him to have something he can keep too. With the poster there’s an envelope with their travel plan.

William stretches out, groaning a bit and she touches his belly gently. He smiles and turns to her to kiss her. ”I’m bringing breakfast, stay here” he whispers against her lips. Soon, there’s a hot mug of cocoa and a muffin in front of her. It’s Christmas, and even if she loves to eat healthily she can make an exception for today. 

After the breakfast, they decide to take a shower. together not to waste some time of course. Showering together is way less sexy than cinema wants you to believe but they love to do it when they can. It’s not sexy - and they learned a long time ago that they have to keep it to kissing and nothing more - but it’s fun.

Then they watch their first Christmas movie together, on the couch. William's hands are tracing patterns on her skin, gently. She rests her legs on his lap. The movie is not shit but not the best either and the plot is predictable so William suggests playing Scrabble on their iPad. It’s a habit they have when they’re bored: they play scrabble and actually laugh a lot. Today is no exception. 

 

_To be continued_


	11. Day 11

**11**  their first Christmas together - part II

* * *

 

Noora is really good at Scrabble and as she’s very competitive, she loves winning. As William loves to tease her and refuses to let her win just like that, they argue a lot. Every word has to be checked in a dictionary.  Noora loves when they’re bantering like that. It’s a reminder of how funny and witty William can be when he’s with someone he knows well. 

They let the second Christmas movie starts and finish their game. Then William suggests taking a stroll and they leave their apartment. Wrapped up in their coats and scarves, they wander along the shore. They’re almost alone and it’s literally freezing but it’s beautiful nonetheless. 

“I’m so cold” Noora sighs. William stops and takes her in his arms. 

“The car is not far,” he says. He takes his beanie and puts it on her head. 

She chuckles. “I can’t steal your beanie, you’ll freeze!” she protests.

“I’ll be fine” he replies. When he leans down to kiss her nose, she closes her eyes. 

They start walking again, Noora snuggled against William’s side, his arm around her waist. 

“Do you think people have sex on Christmas?” she suddenly asks William, who chuckles. 

“What?” 

“Well you know, we always say there are periods of time when people are more sexually active than others, do you think Christmas is one?” she explains.  

“Is that your way of telling me you want to go home to have sex?” he replies, a smug smile on his lips.

“No. We have to cook, we don’t have time! It was a genuine question, William” 

“Ok, then… Depends. Maybe” he thinks about it for a few seconds. “I don’t know what could be sexy about Christmas but it’s winter, the weather is cold, you can’t really go outside so, I mean, yes maybe”  

Noora nods, hiding her nose in her scarf. “Yeah… ”  

When they get back to the apartment, Noora goes straight to the kitchen to start cooking their meal. William follows her. “Hot cocoa or tea?” he asks. 

“Hot cocoa. The cookies are in the box too.” She replies, pointing at the silver box. 

William opens it. “No, it’s empty.  Eskild took them, I guess.”

Noora stops what she is doing, gets closer to William and looks at the box, dumbfounded. “God! I made them for you, not for him!” she says. 

William shrugs. “We should keep them in _our_ room. So cocoa and what?”

“Well… Gingerbread?”

“Homemade?” he asks. 

“homemade,” she repeats, biting her lips.

“When did you have time to do it?” 

“Yesterday.”

“For someone who doesn’t like Christmas, you actually did a lot of Christmas cooking” William teases her, pulling her against him in a sweet kiss. 

“I cooked for you because you eat a lot!”

“I’m growing up” he justifies himself, burying his face into her neck.  

Noora scoffs.

William heats two mugs of cocoa and prepares two slides of gingerbread so that they can have a snack while preparing food.

Noora prepares samosas while William prepares guacamole. Afterward, they prepare together potatoes with homemade sushi. Noora adds a salad to the mix. They bake a chocolate cake to go with the ice cream they bought for the occasion and when everything is ready they settle with their tray on the couch. The kitchen isn’t really comfortable to eat and Noora customized their trays with Christmas decoration. _“If we’re celebrating Christmas, we’re celebrating it, William”._  

They watch another Christmas movie and are particularly proud of their cooking skills. 

When the movie ends, Noora suggests watching a horror movie because “Christmas movies are all the same”. William chooses one from the Netflix catalog. Before any scream can be heard, Noora is hiding behind William.

“What are you even doing?” he asks, trying to stay on the couch.

“I’m scared” she replies.

“Then come here, don’t hide behind me like that,” he says, opening his arms. she sits between his legs. She puts the blanket on their legs and uses it as a way to hide her from the screen.

Every time there is a scream or that it is clear that there will be one, William puts his hands on her eyes and pulls her closer against him which doesn’t prevent her from whimpering every time she catches a glimpse of a ghost or blood. 

“Why did you suggest watching a horror movie if you hate them, Noora?”

“I love them! I’m just scared.” she answers like it makes sense. He leans down and kisses her cheek. 

The movie gets scarier and scarier, but Noora is calm, the patterns being traced on her skin by William are soothing her. She’s almost dozing off (almost) when it hits her. 

“We didn’t exchange gifts!” She shouts, turning her body in an awkward position to face William. He nods.

They get up from the couch and go looking for their gifts.

Noora unwraps hers first. She has no idea what he could have think of. When she realizes it’s a camera, she bites her lips. There is little note on it. _“You will be able to capture our little moments_ _forever, Love William.”_  

It’s an amazing gift, she thanks him for a thousand times, kissing him hard, her hand cupping his face but she really wants to know what he thinks of her gift.

When he opens it, he reads the sentence on the poster. 

_“Love is_

_trust, faith, and loyalty_

_finding your other half_

_that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own_

_A feeling shared with someone who loves you_

_The most beautiful of dreams_

_A place in one’s heart_

_Forever_

_What we make it_

_Unconditional_

_Holding you seeing you being with you in every single way”_

She sees the smile drawing on his lips and his eyes shining when he looks at her. She gestures him to open the envelope.

“we’re… going to Prague for New Year? Like next week?” He asks, visibly surprised.

She nods. William looks at her like she hung the moon and kisses her tenderly.

A few hours after, Noora may or may not try her new camera by snapping pictures of her boyfriend looking for information about Prague on his phone. She’s humming “We wish you a merry Christmas” and for once in her life, she can say she did spend a merry Christmas. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, I think I might post the 12th prompts on the 25th of December and not tomorrow.


	12. Day 12

 Making Christmas preparations at home together (with Eskild) + Xmas party with friends which they leave early after a kiss under a mistletoe to go home

* * *

 

_Vilde created a group “Christmas ho ho ho_ _”_

**Vilde:** Who is hosting Christmas dinner this year? We can go to the Christmas market after, there’s a sort of after-party that seems cool

 **Eskild:** Hello V - Are you trying to organize something with everyone again?

 **Vilde:** yep

 **Eskild:** You know that Eli, YouYou, and Sanasol do not celebrate Christmas right? It’s gonna fail Vilde Honey

 **Yousef:** Youyou? 

 **Elias:** Eli? 

 **Sana:** I approve of Sanasol

 **Vilde:** WellI just think we could spend the 23rd all together and Sana never said no to Christmas parties

 **Vilde:** but forget about it if you don’t wanna 

 **Chris:** No Vilde it’s a great idea

 **Eva:** I’m in

 **Sana:** We’ll be there, don’t worry Vilde. 

 **Vilde:** Could you host it, Eskild? I can’t 

 **Eskild:** Yes

 **Linn:** Did you just say yes without asking N, W and me first?

 **Eskild:** also yes

 **Vilde:** great!

That’s how William and Noora ended up trying to decorate their apartment for Vilde’s Christmas dinner. Eskild and Vilde are teaming up to decorate the tree Eskild bought (a real one, despite Noora’s objection.), Linn is hiding under her covers, William and Noora are on baking duty. They didn’t have a choice but to comply with Eskild’s wishes. Eskild told them to bake cookies and to decorate them so that they’re “Christmas Cookies”. They’re standing very close to each other, Noora trying to make “Santa cookies” while William chose to make “Christmas tree cookies”. When the first batch is in the oven, Noora wraps her arms around William and rests her head on his torso. He immediately kisses the top of her head. She moves a bit to look up at him, smiling and suddenly, William turns them over, grabs her by her ass and lifts her up to make her sit on the - clean - counter. She lets out an almost inaudible moan and kisses him. Vilde and Eskild are too close to let them drop their guard and get reckless but Noora still tugs his sweater with one hand and strokes his neck slowly. William brushes their noses together before catching her lips into his once more. 

"Hmmm hmmm" Eskild says from the door entrance. "I gave you a task that definitely was not making out, lovebirds”. Hands on his waist, eyebrows furrowed, he shakes his head in disapproval.

William turns over and looks at him. “First, I can kiss my girlfriend whenever I want. Second, your beloved cookies are baking in the oven.”

Noora smiles. “And, third, Fuck off.”

Eskild gasps, outraged by Noora’s cursing. “We’re hosting Christmas. There’s still a lot of work to do! How many cookies did you bake?”

“about 20, I would say” Noora replies. 

Eskild widens his eyes. “20! God, we have to bake at least 200 cookies for tonight!”

“200? Are you nuts?” Noora almost shouts.

“We’re not baking 200 cookies, Eskild” William states.

“We have three more batches, so that means about 60 but that’s it” Noora adds.

Vilde calls him from the living room and Eskild sighs dramatically before leaving.  

When the cookies are all ready, they join the other two in the living room and help set everything up. Noora and William have never seen that many Christmas decoration in one apartment before. There are tinsels everywhere, a lot more baubles on the tree than necessary. Eskild give them lights and candles to hang everywhere. It’s a bit too much but when it’s done, they have to admit that it makes their living room more welcoming and christmassy.  

A few hours later, their friends are all gathered in the apartment, eating pizza and sipping beer or another alcohol of their choice. Vilde and Eskild argued that pizza wasn’t Christmas food but everyone agreed that it was their best option. Nobody wanted to spend the whole day cooking in the kitchen. Not even Vilde and Eskild.

_“Christmas is about love” Vilde said to convince everyone to come to her party. She seems to be right._

Sana is seated close to Yousef. They’re not touching but they are definitely flirting. From what Sana admits to her friends, their situation is not really complicated, but they have to take the plunge. Her parents would like them to wait a few years, but Yousef, even if he respects Sana and her parents wholeheartedly, doesn’t see why waiting a few years change a thing and Elias agree with his friend. Sana hasn’t decided yet. 

The “boys squad” is there too. There’s Isak and Even in a corner, chatting with Elias, Jonas is sharing a beer with Eva, Mahdi and Magnus are talking with Linn about some Christmas movie that was shown on TV. 

Magnus accepts the slide of pizza Vilde brings him with a huge smile on his face. He kisses her softly on the cheek, prompting a little giggle from her. 

Mahdi and Linn seem to get along just fine. 

Isak has his arm around Even waist. Everyone knows that Even just got out from a very bad episode, that drained both his and Isak’s energy but they seem fine, just a bit tired. Everything is always fine when it comes to those two anyway. 

They’re giving advice to Elias, who doesn’t know where to go with a girl he met through Youtube. 

Jonas has his hand on Eva’s tights and Eva is laughing at what he’s saying. Nobody knows what exactly they are up to, because they don’t want to put a label on what they have. From some drunken confession Jonas made to William, they’re “great together”. Eva tends to stay elusive and just says that they’re something more than friends. If it’s enough for them, it’s enough for everyone.

Chris and Emma are there too. He has his arm around her neck. She feeds him pizza and laughs loudly. She has let her hair grow in the past few months and dyed them in a silver color that suits her. With Chris, she gained assurance and isn’t the shy girl from a few months ago. She left school and is modeling for an agency, now. Chris is still Chris, though and winks at Eva across the room. Sometimes life is weird. They were left at a crossroad and they took very different paths that lead them to the exact opposite as they were moments before. They could have left that party together but they didn’t and it changed their lives forever. How sick is that?

Christina is trying to help Eskild chatting up a man he invited but with no success so far. He seems more interested in her than in Eskild and she doesn’t know what to do because: first she’s a good friend and shouldn’t flirt back in front of Eskild. Second, she just accepted a date with Magnus’ older brother Marius. Vilde has been trying to set them up from the second she met him. Too many options, she’s lost.

Vilde, as a good hostess invites everyone to follow her to the Christmas market. Nobody wants to offend her but they would have preferred staying in, as they’re all a bit tipsy and it’s cold outside. 

They still end up following her, wrapped in their winter coat, beanies and gloves on, They drink mulled wine (or tea) with a slice of gingerbread, seated side by side on the pavement. They’re surprised because the market isn’t as super crowded as they expected.

William takes Noora in his arms, noticing that she’s freezing. He presses a lingering kiss on her cheek. She nuzzles her head against him. He suggests taking a stroll not to freeze on the spot and Noora gets up. Everyone follows them.

She takes his hand in hers and gets closer to him. “We can’t even have a single moment of tranquility with them” she sighs. William nods, pressing his lips together.

Suddenly Eva grabs her arm and pulls her with the girls somewhere. She apologizes to William with her eyes. She spends a great moment with the girls speaking about everything and nothing (boys.)

Vilde informs the other girl that this morning Noora almost had sex in the kitchen. Noora denies it. “There is a thing, called kissing, that often happens between two people that are in love, V.” she tells her.

Chris admits that she kissed Eskild friend and gave her his number, which gets her a dirty look from matchmaker Vilde.

Vilde asks Eva about her sex life with Jonas because she and Magnus have seen some things on the internet and Jonas said that he had “tried it once” and she wants to know if it’s with her. “He was making fun of you two, Vilde. I’m pretty sure that nobody has tried it, here. Not even Eskild or Chris” Eva replies with a laugh.

Sana rolls her eyes. She almost admits, sometime after that, that she might get married soon, or relatively soon. Yousef may or may not have asked her officially if they could start planning it. There’s nothing official yet, it’s just between them but it’s a step.

The girls coo loudly at her admission. 

After a while, the girls separate and Noora finds her boyfriend, speaking to Chris. She isn’t sure if he knows that he’s under a mistletoe but she gets closer and when he notices her, he immediately smiles brightly. She gestures him to look up.

“Did you stay here to make sure someone would kiss you?” she teases him.

“No, but I had offers” he teases back, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

“Did you accept them?” she asks, leaning closer.

“No. I was waiting for a beautiful, smart, blonde woman with blue eyes. I don’t kiss just anyone”

Noora smiles and William closes the gap between them and kisses her.

“Take me home” she whispers.

“Eskild is gonna kill us” William replies, holding her closer.

“He’s drunk. I don’t care” she says. She takes him by the hand and they leave.

 **Vilde:** Someone has seen William and Noora?

 **Eva:** They ditched us 

 **Jonas:** We saw them leave more than an hour ago

 **Christoffer:** yep they went home 

 **Vilde:** What????

 **Vilde:** Why did they leave like that?

 **Isak:** Vilde….

 **Eva:** …

 **Sana:** …

 **Even:** ….

 **Linn:** ….

 **Vilde:** very funny! I wanted a group photo 

 **Noora:** yep we’re home

 **Vilde:** Why did you leave so early?

 **Noora:** to have sex on the kitchen counter  

 **Eva:**  haha

 **Chris:** that’s a great reason 

 **Sana:**  LOL 

 **Even:** Great idea, I’m gonna find Isak

 **Isak:** I’m next to you, babe

 **Jonas:** Eva?

 **Christoffer:** Byeeee everyooooone 

 **Eva:**  *thumbs up*

 **Vilde:** noooooo. You can’t ALL leave, NO.

 **Magnus:** Vilde?

 **Vilde:** Well okay, merry Christmas everyone!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Don't hesitate to leave feedback :)


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